Losing the World of Tomorrow: The Battle Over the Presentation of Science at the 1939 New York World's Fair

1994 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Kuznick
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World

The Sunshine State Emerges on the World Stage

2019 ◽  
pp. 189-197
Author(s):  
David J. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Entire Population ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Tourist Industry ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World ◽  
Park Service

Near the end of the Great Depression, Florida ends the decade with a triumphant tenure at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, dozens of thriving tourist attractions, and a newly built Florida Park Service. By 1940, Florida enjoyed a thriving tourist industry that attracted more than double the entire population of the Sunshine State.

Performing Japan in the ‘World of Tomorrow’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peterson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
World War ◽  
Love Affair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Tea Ceremony

As Asia and Europe raced toward another catastrophic world war, the Japanese government engaged Nippon Kōbō, its de-facto state propaganda machine, to reinforce America’s love affair with all things Japanese at the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair. The temple-like national pavilion set amidst an extensive garden celebrated the strong diplomatic and trade relationship between the two countries, while highlighting the ‘softer’ and more feminine side of Japan through displays featuring attractive, kimono-clad women engaged in silk production, ikebana floral arranging, and the ubiquitous ‘tea ceremony.’ The reception given to the genderbending performing arts company, Takarazuka in May, 1939, suggests Americans were unwilling to change their perception of Japan as the land of cherry blossoms and willowy maidens.

For all the world to see: Anesthesia at the 1939 New York World's Fair

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R. Bacon ◽  
Mark J. Lema ◽  
Clifton K. Yearley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World

Mirror of Our Culture

1965 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-348
Author(s):  
Robert E. Rambusch
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
New Age ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World

“We have crossed the threshold of a new age whose implications the fair failed to treat seriously. Perhaps the fair does mirror too well our present culture, but it is not enough to hold up the cracked mirror. A billion-dollar venture has the responsibility to present for our consideration not only the world as it is but the reality of human dignity and potency capable of transforming ourselves and our universe. There remain many uncomfortable realities which the 1964–65 New York World's Fair did not confront or even acknowledge.”

Batman and the World of Tomorrow: Yesterday’s Technological Future in the Animated Film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Animation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-259
Author(s):  
Anna-Sophie Jürgens
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World ◽  
Animated Film ◽  
Media Spectacle ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multi Media ◽  
The Ideal

Examining facets of modernist visions of our technological future and of theatricalized city and stage spaces in the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, this article explores the cultural meaning of technology in graphic fiction. The confrontation scene between Batman and Joker in the grounds of Gotham’s World’s Fair, the author argues, echoes the 1939 New York World’s Fair with its modernist urban optimism and pop cultural fascination with new visionary technologies, as well as the modern history of moving pictures and multi-media spectacle. The article spotlights the power of the Batman story to participate in, and contribute towards, complex cultural inquiry and transmedial discourses around technology and popular entertainments. Through the exquisite medium of animation – which allows animated characters to be placed on an abstract architectural city stage – Mask of the Phantasm also embodies modernist visions of the ‘ideal’ stage character in a medium that creates non-realist art and more complex possibilities for movement, thus transporting modernist thinking into the 20th century.

Federation Day at the World of Tomorrow

Zutot ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Marek S. Kopacz ◽  
Aleksandra D. Bajka-Kopacz
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
World History ◽  
The United States ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
World Congress ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World ◽  
National Convention ◽  
Polish Jews

Abstract Ninety years ago, the Federation of Polish Jews in America hosted their national convention and world congress in the New York City area. In this article, we will discuss some of what transpired at these events. Set at a tumultuous crossroads in world history, the Federation rallied Jewish groups throughout the United States and the world in humanitarian support for a war-torn Polish nation. The national convention and world congress were also set to have their own respective satellite sessions at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 and 1940. These satellite sessions are noteworthy in that they mark a Jewish presence at the Fair which extended beyond the Jewish Palestine Pavilion. They also mark a uniquely Polish presence, extending beyond Poland’s own Pavilion at the Fair.

The Aesthetics of Ascension in Norman Bel Geddes's Futurama

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Morshed
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
New York World's Fair ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Common ◽  
New Vision ◽  
The City

The present article concerns the early-twentieth-century avant-garde's aestheticizing of a new vision occasioned by the advent of human flight. It focuses on the project that best reflects this vision: the Futurama, an exhibit created by the American industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The Futurama's status as the "number one hit show" of the fair derived largely from its theatrical technique of seeing: spectators literally gazed down on an American utopia as if they were aviators in a low-flying airplane. Conceived during the golden age of American aviation, in the 1920s and 1930s, the Futurama exemplified the common utopian belief that the perspective from an airplane would usher in new spatial dynamics that would introduce the city of the future. The enthusiasm for aerial vision evinced a remarkable affiliation between aviation and a modernist logic of looking at the world. The fact that the Futurama spectator's aerial viewing became enmeshed in broader conceptualizations of twentieth-century visuality reveals the crucial presence of what could be called an "aesthetics of ascension" in the avantgarde imagination of the future city.

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